Reverse Author Interviews.

Text from their blog: Here at Book Munchies, we enjoy reading other author interviews and see them often featured on quite a number of book blogs. But a thought came to us, those authors never get to ask us anything; we’re always the ones doing the asking. But what if there was something they wanted to know about us? So, Book Munchies has been working to gather questions from a variety of authors about a good mix of topics.
When I got an email from Book Munchies about this event, I knew I had to participate. I haven’t seen anything like this before and it sounded like so much fun. Today, I am going to answer Marissa Meyer’s questions. It’s so awesome, because I love Cinder & Scarlet.

It seems that when I tell most bloggers that there won't be a love triangle in The Lunar Chronicles, they seem weirdly grateful for that. So what's the un-official blogger status on love triangles in YA these days? If you're not burned out on them entirely, then what do you feel makes a good love triangle? First of all, I can’t express my happiness about the fact that there won’t be a love triangle! The thing is, I’m starting to get tired of them. There are just too many books with love triangles and I hate it when the plot gets overshadowed by the romance. And let’s be honest, how many times do love triangles happen in real life? It’s just not very realistic. One of the things that bothers me is the fact that most love triangles are a cliché. There is a shy girl who finds herself unattractive, there is a boy she has been friends with for years and there is a new, snarky, mysterious and gorgeous guy – and she is instantly attracted to him. It just doesn’t do the trick for me anymore.

There are, however, some love triangles that do work for me. I’m going to pick three of them as an example:
-Alina, Mal and The Darkling from Leigh Bardugo’s work Shadow and bone. It’s more complex and it’s not only about love. They are great characters with a lot of development and there is an amazing world-building.
-Cole, Jack and Nikki from Brodi Ashton’s Everneath. There is more story to it. It’s about mythology and Nikki’s struggle between her special connection with Cole and her love for Jack.
-Morpheus, Jeb and Alyssa from A.G Howard’s Splintered. It’s true that I absolutely hated Jeb, but I still liked this triangle, because it was on the background. The main story was about Alyssa and her attempt to save her mother, by going into the darkness of Wonderland.

What are your writing and/or author promoting pet peeves?Writing pet peeves:I don’t think I am very difficult when it comes to books, but there are some things I don’t like; too many details or lack of details. I think this is one of the hardest things for an author. The amount of details has to be balanced; enough to satisfy my curiosity, but not so much that my own creativity has been taken away. I also need answers! Cliff-hangers are one of the worse things ever. It’s torture when you know you have to wait a whole year before you finally know what is going to happen. I don’t mind a slightly open ending, but don’t stop in the middle of something. And the last thing is: world-building. This is especially important in fantasy and dystopian books. You have to create a whole new world and I must be able to feel like it’s real.

Author promoting pet peeves:
I understand that authors are trying to get a broad audience. They are proud of their hard work and they want publicity, but it’s not a good thing to copy paste the same text to every blogger. There are some ‘rules’ for me when it comes to mailing bloggers.
1. Use their name. I want to have the feeling you are writing the email specifically to me. When you start right away with promoting your book, it almost feels like I don’t matter; it’s just my blog you want to use.
2. Read their review policy. It’s on my blog for a reason. I’m already very busy and replying to requests when it is very clear that I’m not interested in that genre takes too much time. No, I don’t want to read about “The ten fastest way to lose weight” and frankly, it’s annoying. Make sure you know the preference of a blogger.

Is there anything you feel is missing from the YA genre right now, or anything you'd like to see more of?
One of the first things I can think of is: a normal family! I’m not sure why most YA books lack of this; it’s not like the character just dropped from the sky. And when there are parents, there is always something wrong with them. They are alcoholics, they are abusive, etc. I would love to see more healthy relationships between the character and the family; or at least one family member. One perfect example is John Green – The fault in our stars. Hazel and Augustus both have supportive, flawed and loving parents. Very refreshing to see.

39 comments

I am with you on the detail one, Mel. I think there is a fine line between too much and not enough detail and it's hard to get right in the good area. Marissa Meyer, however, does get in that area perfectly. I love her books so much and my current wait for Cress is proving to be quite painful.

AND YES. Love triangles do get worn out and stupid most of the time, but those examples you listed out were spot on. I think the problem with these triangles is that we're always reading from the POV of the person who's being chased after, not the person who is one of the options. Also, the MC is almost always the kind of girl thats: "oh-I'm-just-average-why-do-these-guys-want-me-so-much," and that really annoys me.

I definitely dislike it when an author sends me a request when it was so obviously clear that they didn't read my review policy. I mean, I get that you want your book to be known, but at least be proper when you try to advertise, you know? GAH. Spam, spam, spam.

And yeah, normal, whole families are definitely lacking in the YA genre. I can name a few books that include normal families, but there aren't many. :/ Hopefully that will change, because family is extremely important!

Oh my goodness. This is SUCH a cool idea! Why didn't I think of it? *kicks self* Utter genius!

I agree with you on the Grisha and Everneath love triangle, but I hated the romance in Splintered. haha. Also, I hadn't heard that there would be no love triangle in the Lunar Chronicles. Holla! Marissa Meyer is a queen of YA.

More supportive families would be a wonderful addition to YA. Not every kid comes from a broken home!

I am so glad I saw this post! I'm definitely going to track down some more of them. I think it's a brilliant idea, both as a writer and a reader. I agree with most of the comments raised - especially about having a normal families.

This feature is such a neat spin on the usual author interview. I love it! And I agree with all your thoughts on love triangles and pet peeves. I am so sick and tired of love triangles, but the Shadow & Bone one is an acceptable love triangle. Great answers! :)

I've never heard of this feature but it sounds really awesome! I agree, Bad love triangle = No me gusta But the one in Everneath is understandable and not infuriating at all. BAH. I really hate it when authors ask me to review their book without using my name. One author even got my name wrong! :O I swear they just copy and paste... And also, half of them seem to never read my review policy as I used to state that I don't accept indie review copies and yet, they STILL, self published authors shoot me an email. URGH. Oh dear... You did NOT just mention TFiOS, oh dear... I'm going to start crying now... That book made me cry and sit in trauma for so long. D; Great post Mel! (hehe, this needs time getting used to)

I agree with all your answers, Mel! The three love triangles you mentioned are among the few that actually work for me, but even then, I never considered any of them conventional triangles in the first place. Perhaps that's why. And I am with you on the family point. A normal family is so refreshing to see these days.

This is a great feature, by the way! I love the thought of authors asking the questions for a change. :)

OMG Mel how much I love you for that last answer! I couldn't agree more on that one. I even pointed that when I wrote TFiOS review, that the character's families are just normal and there. And that's pretty rare when talking about YA books. But some authors just seem to forget that.

Great feature and I like Marissa's questions:) I do sometimes like love triangles, like the one with Alex, Aiden and Seth in Jennifer L. Armentrouts Covenant series. Too bad that in most books the love triangles are allmost the same and don't really feel realistic.

Now that you mention it, I can't really remember the last time I've read a YA book where the lead character had a normal family.

This is such a fantastic idea and I had a lot of fun reading this interview! The questions were very thought-provoking and I really enjoyed your answers, they were very well thought out and I agree with a lot of your points! I haven't had a problem with authors sending emails without reading the review policy- it might happen if my blog gets bigger in the future, but so far I've only had one comment and someone friend request me on goodreads who was an author I didn't know. I thought that was a little odd.

Oh, I love this post! First of all, the reverse interview idea is so cool and I pretty much agree with all the others. I am a bit more difficult with books, I guess, but apart from that...I also think most love triangles are simply ways to catch the reader's attention because the plot alone won't do it anymore. If that's the case, no thanks, then I'd rather read another book. However, as you said, there are books where it works. Those are usually the ones where the triangles really seem to come naturally instead of just happening because there are two boys and only one girl :D

Wow I love this idea! And your answers are fabulous. I share your feelings on love triangles and writing pet peeves. Another good love triangle I would say is Jem Will and Tessa from The Infernal Devices. But i think i'd still prefer no love triangle over a well done one. Thanks for sharing!!

So true about the "Absent Parent Syndrom"! in YA books. It's kind of ridiculous! And the roles are always reversed i.e the kid has to look after the parent cause the parent is SO HELPLESS blah blah blah. I'd love to see more regular parental relationships!

I personally think love triangles are just overused- and the thing is, I wouldn't necessarily mind them so much but most of the times they're just not done well. The characters are stereotypical and you already know who the heroine is going to end up with. Bleh. :p

Normal families would be a nice, refreshing change. I'd really love to see more sibling relationships. I don't know why but I just love great sibling relationships like the one between Mara and Daniel from the Mara Dyer trilogy.

Great answers, Mel, and thanks for introducing me to reverse author interviews! :)

I LOVED THIS! What a fun idea and what a great interview. I can't agree more with your answer on love triangles (I can't stand them ANYMORE, but I do like the one in Shadow and Bone, because it's so complex and different), DEFINITELY your answer on promotional pet peeves (how hard is it to find a name on a blog?!) and I loooove it when a book has a normal family for a change. Or just books with great familial relationships. Books that come to mind are My Life Next Door (have you read this one? I know you're not a contemp fan, but it has my favorite bookish family after the Weasleys!), Unearthly (I love Clara's mom!) and the book I just read, Also Known As (the parents are hilarious). But I still like to see more of it. Like I said, this was so fun!